Steam-cooker



(No Model.) Y

W. H. WOOLARD.

STEAM GOOKBR.

Patented June 24, 1890.

limi/5% UNITED STATES VILLIAM H. WOOLARD,

PATENT OFFICE.

OF WINDSOR, ILLINOIS.

lSTEM/1-oooia SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 43,980,dated J une 24, 1890.

Application iiled August 7, 1889.

T0 all whom t may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM H. VVOOLARD, a citizen of the United States,residing at Windsor,in the countyof Shelby and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Im provements in Steam-Cookers; and I dodeclare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of theinvention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same, reference being' had to theaccompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon,which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to steam cookers, and has for its object toprovide a culinary appa ratus in which the food can be inspected at anypoint without removing the vessel in which it is contained from itssupport, and in which little if any steam will be permitted to escape,whereby a saving of fuel will result and thc flavors of the food beretained.

The improvement consists of the novel features which will be hereinaftermore fully described and claimed, and which are shown in the annexeddrawings, in which- Figure l is a perspective view, parts being" brokenaway, of a steam-cooker embodying my invention, showing the hood up.Fig. 2 is a detail perspective view of the lower portion of therack-frame on an enlarged scale.

The reservoir A, in which the shelf-rack B is placed and covered by thehood C, is made with a substantial bottom and sides, the latter being`the proper depth and having a fiarin g or funnel-shaped rim a, whichreceives the lower end of the hood C. The hood is made the proper sizeto cover the rack-frame and is composed of an inner and an outer casing.The outer casing D is slipped down over the inner casing D', the tw-ocases being of such relative size that about a quarter of an inch spaceintervenes between them. Each casing is made independent of the otherand has a separate top. The bottom of the outer casing is securelyfastened to the inner casing near its lower end in such manner that thespace between the two casings is rendered air-tight. The hood C isprovided with a handle d on the top, to which a cord E is attached, orwhich may be used in removing the hood from thc cooker at any time.

The guide-yoke F is made of gas-pipe or other suitable material, and isfastened to the reservoir A by means of an iron band G,whicl1 is heldsecurely io the reservoir and guideyoke by means of bolts c. `Loops eare formed in the band at points diametrically opposite `each other, andthe lower ends of the yoke are inserted in these loops, and the bolts cpassing through the loops clamp the band on the yoke and reservoir, aswill be readily understood.

The shelf-rack B is made to support any desired number of shelves J,which latter can be adjusted or removed to admit a larger or tallervessel to the interior of the steamer, or to admit any kind of acooking-vessel that will iit within the hood O, and is composed of threeupright bars H, I-I, and H2 and two bands I and I. The two side bars Hand H have the requisite number of shelf-supports h, which are pressedor swaged from the body of the bars and which are in the shape of aninverted T, substantially as shown. The back upright bar H2 is providedwith a corresponding number of notches h', cut therein to a proper depthto receive the shaft J and support it in the proper position. The threeupright bars H H H2 are held in their proper position at the bottom endby being` riveted or otherwise fastened to the lower band I, which fitson the inside of the reservoir and at the top by being riveted to theband I.

The shelf-supports /L comprise two members m and m', which incline inopposite directions from their adjacent ends. The member m isconsiderably broader or wider than the member fm, so as to formshoulders on each side of member m for the shelves to rest on, andinclines away from the support, whereas the member m inclines from themember m toward the said support and braces and strengthens the memberm', besides forming a means to hold the shaft from lateral displacement,in that it enters the notch j in the edge of the said shelf.

The shaft .I is preferably an octagonah shaped piece of sheet-iron ofproper size, having slots J of proper depth cut in twodiametrically-opposite sides, so they will straddle the inverted-Tsupports 7L, or the members m thereof, and is of such size that it willIit in the notch of the back upright bar H2.

The cord E, attached tothe handle d on the 1 hood, as'aforesaich'passesover the two pulleys f and f on the guide-yoke, and is attached at iitsv other end tothe combined handle and clamp K, which is mounted onthe guideyoke, and is used in operating the said hood5 and maintainingit at any height desired simply by letting loose of the handle. Shouldthe handle slip out of the operators hand, it will immediately grip theguide-yoke and not I allow the hood to fall.

lin, and is pressed around between the top or` funnel-shaped part of thereservoir and the S the guide-yoke, ofv the Aband G, encircling the-reservoir,.and having portions lfolded on itself lower band Iolf therack-frame. ,i

The operation ofthe -cookeris as follows# The -steamris `generated `finthe reservoir from water lwhiehispplaced therein vforthe purpose, and,`rising, fills the hood when the vlatter is lowered and cooks the `foodthat is placed onf having an air-space between them, the outer casingbeing securely fastened at its lower end to the inner casing,substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. The combination, with the reservoir and the band I, of the packingplaced in the space between the said band and reservoir and the hoodadapted to have its lower end fitted in said space, substantially as setforth.

3. The combination, wit-h the reservoir, the hood, and the yoke, of thecord attached to the hood and passed over a pulley on the yoke, and thecombined handle and clamp ,mountedon the yoke, substantially as and forthe purpose described.

4. The combination, with the reservoir and tto form loops, and having:theends `of vthe yoke inserted linsaid loops, and the'bolts passing.through the vsaidfolded portions to clamp the loops on the yoke `andthe band .on the reservoir, substantially `vas described.

In testimonywhereof I aflix mysignaturefin presence of two witnesses.

`WM. 1H. WOOLARI). 'Vitnessem H. R. Mo-BERLEY, T. L. Rosa

